Chapter 74: 46. Ordinary Days (Today's update, this chapter ends)
What happened next had nothing to do with Dacus. After returning to the ground, a crow landed on his shoulder, stared at him for a while, and then flew away without saying anything.
Edmund and Calion were herding a dozen or so Druki slaves down into the tomb, where they would don their armor and lie with Elleril, awaiting the next group of visitors.
The spoils were brought back to Night Warden's Castle, where they needed to be maintained and refurbished by the blacksmiths and sorceresses, transforming it into the Duruchi style. A few antique items were taken from the family warehouse and thrown next to the mummies. It was time to complete the show, wasn't it?
The two sorceresses stayed there, and after they had sent back the replacement weapons they needed, they rearranged the traps and did some fancy things so that the next group of visitors would be pleasantly surprised when they arrived.
The Soul Dagger was brought back to Night Warden's Castle under the escort of Maranur and Kesrai. Following Darkeus's advice, Anasara didn't keep it, but instead planned to give it to Morathi with the next family caravan bound for Grond. Darkeus's idea was to simply toss it into the active volcanoes of the Blackspine Mountains and let anyone take it! But sometimes, he couldn't make up his mind, and he harbored a vague fear that he might encounter the Soul Dagger again in the future.
Alyssa returns to the Tower of Doom, this time training under the personal guidance of Anasara. She needs to learn to balance the relationship between the sisters Hecate, the goddess of magic, and Asati, the goddess of desire.
Hecate is a goddess of magic, but unlike Lilith, she represents the dark side. She is capricious and closely monitors the desires of the elves, a practice other deities avoid. This leads to a jealous struggle between her and her sister, Asati. Sorceresses must carefully balance their devotion to the two sisters, as Naggaroth offers countless cruel warnings of the consequences of mishandling their devotion.
Daxus returned to the forest farm and his days went by uneventfully. He practiced martial arts during the day, did social research or read books at night, and occasionally cooked something himself.
Chupakoko was taken to the forest farm. He was wearing a tailor-made kaitan and holding a staff Dacus had given him at the market. This outfit was incredibly funny. He was always busy, playing around, or playing with the ankylosaur. He didn't dare tease Dacus, because Dacus would actually kick him. He could only tease the Duruchi soldiers, but the soldiers, out of Dacus's face, dared not speak out.
Summer came, and the forest farm became a transit station and supply point. Calien began to take the trainers to catch wild animals in the Black Ridge Mountains. No matter whether they were giant wolves, harpies, wild manticores and hydras, they would catch whatever they saw. If they encountered a difficult one, Daxus would also take the powerful and influential followers with him.
One night, an active volcano in the Black Ridge Mountains erupted, shaking the earth. Daquus was awakened from his sleep and emerged from his room, robed in his robes. Other dignitaries and attendants also emerged. The night sky was lit up by the volcanic fire, and the overwhelming lava and deafening roar made him feel as if he were at the end of the world.
After watching the natural scenery for a while, the Druzis in the forest farm said that they were used to it, except that the noise was a little bigger this time. They all joked that Adaeus had forged another rubbish weapon.
Not long after, Clarkalond sent a batch of tribute to Addaus. Dacreus set off with his team wearing a mask. Caerleon was known as the living map of the Black Spine Mountains, and they did not encounter anything particularly dangerous along the way. The beastmen usually squatted in caves and underground crevices, and Shadow's mountain soldiers did not run into them.
In a valley, he ran into a big treasure that made Daquus's SAN value drop rapidly.
An eight-meter-tall, three-headed monster with a cat-like body and asymmetrical wings glided towards the group. Its left wing was leathery, while the right was feathery. The center head was a giant dragon's, the left a lion's, the right an eagle's, and, most remarkable of all, a snake's head at the tail.
This creature is a monstrosity twisted by Chaos, its sole purpose seemingly being to kill. It's a creature of fear, flesh and blood. Yet, remarkably, no two Chimeras are alike. Like DIY creations, they all share one striking similarity: three distinct heads. But no two heads are alike. One is always a dragon, while the others, like lions, large birds of prey, reptiles, insects, and crocodiles, resemble a list of dishes. While these three heads usually work in harmony, they certainly do sometimes engage in bickering and shouting.
However, it was useless. There was a reason why the core of the Duruchi War Beast was a War Hydra, not a Chimera. Its body lacked the protection and recovery ability of scales, and it was quickly taken care of by Darkus's team.
In the evening, the team finally arrived. The temple was not big and stood on the top of the mountain. A group of Drukhi carried the supplies to the Temple of Addaeus, and Daxus stayed alone.
Worshipped as the "Bringer of Rage," Ardaeus is arguably the least cunning of all the elven gods, preferring direct and forceful solutions to any obstacles in his path. He was one of the few sons of Illinir to survive Loic's tricks.
Unlike his other siblings, he avoided his father and met him on the battlefield. The two fought for three days and three nights, but Ardaeus was no match for his father. Fortunately, Radlili, seeing his father's distress, blinded Illinir and allowed Ardaeus to escape to the mortal world. This shamed him, and he decided to forge a weapon of his own. He spared no effort in preparing for the inevitable battle, knowing that he was destined to fight his father again.
Addaeus drank a bottle of wine directly, then looked at Dacreus angrily and asked, "Little man, do you know where the incarnation of Val is?"
"In Athel Loren." Dacius felt that Adaeus was angry every moment, and he said it directly without caring.
Adaeus stared at Dacius in silence, as if wondering where Athel Loren was, what place he was in, or perhaps some other question, but he couldn't bring himself to ask.
Daxus pulled out a piece of parchment from his pocket and said, "Do you have any requests for me to convey? For example, the style and size of the weapon."
Addaeus hesitated for a moment, then began to babble about his wild ideas. His tone became more and more excited, and he waved his fists from time to time, and then he talked about the pile of bad things he had done before.
Daxus looked at the elf before him, a figure with long, flaming red hair and bare chest, waving its arms crazily. At that moment, Adaeus's avatar seemed to have transformed into the incarnation of a failed art student. He had been tortured for nearly an hour, and he still had to nod and agree from time to time. He even had the urge to draw his gun.
After confirming this outrageous Party A request with Adaeus again, Dacus went down the mountain.
"It's just outrageous."
